"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
I missed 'em all
I knew of these things when I was growing up, but I don't believe we ever owned any of them.
I love Lawn Darts. Simultaneously the best and worst idea corporate America ever dreamed up. I can only assume that everybody in the corporate legal department was away on a retreat the week they did that.
I do remember the Water Wiggle. Always figured it was an accompaniment to the Slip'n'Slide. Which I always thought was guaranteed to break somebody's arm or leg.
We had the lawn darts, but I think the first time we took them out of the box, it was obvious that they could do serious damage if you tried to use them the wrong way, so no one was injured when we played with them. I equate lawn darts to playing horseshoes. It also seemed self-evident that you didn't want to get in the way of a horseshoe when it was flying through the air.
I had a regular pogo stick, and loved it, but don't remember the gas powered one. And, I had a skateboard with skinny steel wheels. That was a bit risky on the smooth concrete in our garage. But, growing up on a farm was way more risky than the toys we had.
My cousin had a pogo stick (not powered) and we loved playing with it. I don't remember the other toys, nobody I knew had them I guess. When we got tired of jumping up and down on the pogo stick, we went to see how high we could swing with the knotted rope my uncle hung from a tree in his back yard.
I love Lawn Darts. Simultaneously the best and worst idea corporate America ever dreamed up. I can only assume that everybody in the corporate legal department was away on a retreat the week they did that.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the Water Wiggle. Always figured it was an accompaniment to the Slip'n'Slide. Which I always thought was guaranteed to break somebody's arm or leg.
I saw a video one time about the Slip n' Slide; a man actually broke his neck.
ReplyDeleteWe had the lawn darts, but I think the first time we took them out of the box, it was obvious that they could do serious damage if you tried to use them the wrong way, so no one was injured when we played with them. I equate lawn darts to playing horseshoes. It also seemed self-evident that you didn't want to get in the way of a horseshoe when it was flying through the air.
ReplyDeleteI had a regular pogo stick, and loved it, but don't remember the gas powered one. And, I had a skateboard with skinny steel wheels. That was a bit risky on the smooth concrete in our garage. But, growing up on a farm was way more risky than the toys we had.
Slip n' Slide and Jarts, 2 great things that go great together!
ReplyDeleteIt's quite the skill game.
How high do you have to be to say, "Let's sell a gas powered pogo-stick!"?
My cousin had a pogo stick (not powered) and we loved playing with it. I don't remember the other toys, nobody I knew had them I guess. When we got tired of jumping up and down on the pogo stick, we went to see how high we could swing with the knotted rope my uncle hung from a tree in his back yard.
ReplyDeleteAlas, I don't remember any of the toys in the video. I do remember the others (Jarts, Slip 'n' Slide, etc).
ReplyDeleteYeah, the powered pogo stick is a bad idea. Kinda like hopping on a land mine.